Bitter bias claims embroil Olympic dressage team

By Samantha Lane

8 July 2012 — 3:00am

IN THE elite world of competition dressage, poise and presentation are paramount. But 19 days before the London Olympics, allegations that Equestrian Australia's selection panel has bent rules and issued preferential treatment have taken the shine off the announcement of the national team.

Devastated that she will not attend a second Olympics, rider Hayley Beresford says she was denied the same privileges as Kristy Oatley, who came late into Olympic contention, but was confirmed in the three-member dressage unit alongside her cousin Lyndal Oatley and veteran Mary Hanna last night.

Beresford spoke to The Sunday Age last night after again finishing as the top-ranked Australian rider at a major grand prix event in Germany - beating Lyndal and Kristy Oatley. Hanna did not take part.

Kristy Oatley.

Photo: Reuters

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"There's no disputing that Lyndal is our best rider … but I am the best rider for Australia today,'' Beresford said after competing.

Documents obtained by The Sunday Age yesterday detail how Beresford mounted several claims against Equestrian Australia's selection panel in a controversial case that has divided the equestrian community.

Early yesterday, the Australian Olympic Committee, which has ultimate sign-off on athlete selection, indicated to The Sunday Age that the dressage team would not be formalised until tomorrow. But in a media release issued last night it announced the ''family affair for Australian dressage'', confirming the Oatleys and Hanna as the successful candidates.

The Oatleys are granddaughters of millionaire yachtsman and winemaker Bob Oatley, who imported one of Australia's first warmblood stallions, established a successful thoroughbred breeding stud, and competed in harness driving.

Hanna is a 57-year-old veteran selected for her fourth Olympics and the wife of Rob Hanna, Equestrian Australia chef d'equipe.

Beresford, 34, said she did not blame any of the riders for the turmoil the team was now facing.

"This has caused a terrible, terrible atmosphere within the team. And that's not the person I am. I am about the team and I'm not personally against the riders,'' she said.

"The federation has excluded me without giving me any sound explanation, other than discretionary points, which is their opinion.''

To be considered for Olympic selection, athletes first need to be selected for a ''shadow squad''. The dressage shadow squad was first selected in March, and included Beresford. But Equestrian Australia's selection panel overlooked her in favour of Kristy Oatley, who was added to the shadow squad in April - after the initial squad deadline.

Beresford, who represented Australia at the Beijing Olympics, challenged her non-selection for London at an appeals tribunal. In June, it dismissed her appeal, saying the evidence was ''insufficient to establish bias''.

''Where one candidate has narrowly missed out on nomination for an Olympic team, (it) can understandably leave that candidate with a strong sense of disappointment and frustration'', but there were no grounds for appeal.

Beresford was told a factor in her non-selection was her declining scores over two Olympic nomination events on horse Bellissimo.

Beresford escalated the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which dismissed her case in a sitting in Sydney on Friday. The court is yet to publish the details of the case, but in documents Beresford tabled in earlier appeals, seen by The Sunday Age, she alleged ''blatant bias [and] double standard within team management''. This had resulted in ''an unfair and unequal assessment of (horse and rider) combinations'' by Equestrian Australia's dressage selection panel.

Beresford highlighted how Kristy Oatley was not named in the original dressage shadow squad and formally criticised Australian team chef Deb MacNicol who allowed Kristy Oatley to substitute horses in an Olympic qualification competition after her animal became ill. Beresford, however, was denied permission when she had proof Bellissimo had an infection.

''I find a clear difference in the way I was treated,'' she said in a document. Beresford presented data that showed her results with Bellissimo were superior to those of Kristy Oatley and Hanna.

''Bellissimo has campaigned in the heart of the dressage world and against the best in the world … whilst [Kristy] Oatley has tripped off to exotic locations, with less competitors, no Olympic ground jury judges on their panels, and much less competition,'' Beresford said in one document.

Equestrian Australia commercial manager Lauren Ryan said she was unable to comment on the controversy last night and said the federation's chairman, Paul Cargill, was the only person who should do so. Cargill could not be reached.

AOC media boss Mike Tancred said the decision was final. Attempts to contact Europe-based Kristy and Lyndal Oatley last night were unsuccessful, but in an AOC media release on the team Lyndal Oatley said: ''You have to love keeping it in the family!''